Former Australian captain Ian Chappell, the man who famously unleashed Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson on England in 1974-75, has called on the national selectors to do the same with Brett Lee and Shaun Tait in the first Test at the Gabba this week.
Citing their combination of extreme pace and late swing, Chappell said that the use of Lee and Tait in the eleven for Brisbane would be the best way to put England on the defensive, even if all-rounder Shane Watson missed the match with a hamstring strain.
"Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee were always certain selections for the Gabba but I would round out the Australian pace attack with the explosive Shaun Tait," Chappell wrote in London's Daily Telegraph. "Lee and Tait, L & T, pace and more pace."
"My mind wanders back to 1974-75 when another L & T combination, Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, pace and more pace, produced a Brisbane blitz that quickly changed the dynamics of an Ashes series.
"The Gabba is the fastest and bounciest pitch in Australia and that is the ground where the Lee and Tait combination is most likely to work."
Chappell also pointed out that the use of Lee and Tait instead of the more disciplined line of Stuart Clark would have a flow-on effect for Shane Warne, with the English batsmen less likely to attack him if they saw scoring opportunities opening up against the quicks.
"With the loss of Watson, Australia are likely to opt for a more conservative pace attack of McGrath, Lee and Clark, one attacking bowler and two miserly metronomes," he wrote.
"This could force the England batsmen to attack Shane Warne, the correct way to play the champion leg-spinner.
"However, play Tait instead of Clark and this means the balance is in favour of aggressive pace bowling and the requirement to score quickly off Warne won't be so great; push and prod at the leg-spinner with a bit of bounce in the pitch and batting life expectancy recedes faster than Brisbane's twilight."
Tait on Sunday returned to the bowling crease after suffering from leg cramps late on day two of England's tour match against South Australia.
He finished the innings with figures of 3-87 from 25.4 overs, including the wickets of Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell.